Brian O’Driscoll admitted yesterday it would be a dream come true to beat the All Blacks as he prepares to face them for the final time.

And while the 34-year old knows it will be a massive task at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, he feels Ireland could spring a huge shock.

Sporting a stitched right eyebrow after a knock suffered in the loss against Australia, O’Driscoll said: “I’m the eternal optimist and I think you have to be in this game.

“The day that you are going out to contain a team, you’re finished. It’s not about containing anyone, it’s about going out and trying to bring your game to the opposition the way you feel you can.

“Yes, no one will give us a chance but that’s OK with us. In our own heads we’ll feel we’re more than capable of absolutely competing with them.

“We have to put ourselves in a position come the latter part of the game where we’re in the hunt. We have the capability to be within touching distance of them.”

O’Driscoll, who is confident of recovering from a troublesome calf injury to face the world champions, has taken on New Zealand 12 times in a green shirt – and lost all 12. Add in the infamous dislocated shoulder he suffered while wearing Lions red in the First Test against the Kiwis in 2005 and it’s been a miserable run.

But he said: “It’s one that has eluded me in any Irish side I have been a part of or any Lions side that I’ve been involved with, I haven’t managed to beat the All Blacks and it is something I would dearly love to do.

“That’s the beauty of those really great victories – they’re hard-fought, they’re the ones that you really remember. We know what a big battle we have on our hands to achieve that so it’s about building for the whole week to get to that point.”

O’Driscoll acknowledged that New Zealand, bidding to make history of their own by completing the year with a clean sweep of 14 victories, always seem to know how to close out a game.

He said: “They always feel they can see it through, irrespective of how they play. They feel as though that they’ll always get it across the line. Maybe when the first Irish victory eventually does come, whenever that may be, I’d think the second one won’t be as hard.”

O’Driscoll said that Ireland’s record 60-0 hammering in Hamilton the last time they met in 2012 will not form a big part of the preparation this week but added: “They can score 14 points in two or three minutes if they are given the opportunity. Knowing that you have to be very heightened in your awareness of everything that is going on for the full 80.”